whew, my internet has finally decided to think about working again. We had a bad electrical storm about 2 months and lightning hit and took out all our internet. about the time i think i'm good to go it crashes again so....hopefully it'll stay working for a while! I miss ya'll. you guys keep me inspired and working hard at practice!

any who, I've been practicing the Irish washerwoman. I think i've got most of the beginning part down...the second half is currently being a big pain in my arse! anyways, i'm just starting to get into fiddling for some fun and a change of pace and this was the first song i ran crossed that was simple enough for me to play I seriously have to make sure i practice daily! I've been slacking and its showing!!! any and all critiques welcome as i think i'm falling into some bad habits after being away from here for so long. So let me know what ya think!!

oh and a question to tack on here....for those that do fiddling....is it easier to hold the violin more forwards then a bit to the side like classical? i jut noticed that seems to be a norm in a lot of the fiddle videos i've seen, since i want to play both classical and fiddle is it alright to shift between the two or do bad habits start to form by doing that? (sorry about the bad lighting had to turn off some lights so i wasn't blinding the camera)

I've added a link to youtube because people have been having problems with the other videos feature=youtu.be

Hey @RockingLR33 ! You're doing a good job, but I think you got a note or two wrong.. Are you learning by ear? Here's the score for the entire song, if it helps:

You're doing a C# instead of a regular C, if I'm not mistaken, but since I'm kinda new to reading sheets I'd trust the word of another fellow fiddler to correct me on this one. Other than that, keep going for it, I'm sure you'll get it right in no time!

Great start, @RockingLR33 ! I have to agree with @augustoad that you've got a note that's a bit off and I think he's right that you're playing a C# instead of a C natural. IWW is usually played in the key of G, so C would not be sharp.

Other than that, your intonation sounded pretty good and seems like you've got a good sense of the rhythm of the tune. Maybe you can post a follow-up video of you playing a little more of the tune or even the whole tune. That would give us a picture of your progress on the entire piece.

Thanks for sharing this. I really like IWW, myself, and hope to be able to play it at full speed some day.

When the work's all done and the sun's settin' low,

I pull out my fiddle and I rosin up the bow.

RockingLR33

Members

Regulars

December 20, 2014 - 3:30 am

Member Since: September 21, 2013

Forum Posts: 489

Offline

4

0

@augustoad Thank you so much for your version of the sheet music. having it color coded like that actually really helps as i get confused with the notes switching between the e and a strings. Where did you get sheet music like this? or did you make it for yourself? Though this sheet music and the one i have is really different for the second half. I'll have to play around with the versions to see which one is easier but I'm liking the one you have. and I am indeed playing c#. I was mis reading the sheet music. guess i should work on that to haha

@KindaScratchy I have a good handle on the first part of the music. when i said the second half was kicking my arse i meant it! for some reason playing on the E string is really hard for me when i have to shift strings. my left arm gets super tense so sounds like i gotta practice a lot but i do plan on doing a follow up video! thank you for your kind words I value your opinion so much!!!

heres a copy of the sheet music i've been using. is it right or are there just multiple ways of playing the tune since it is a folk song? i got this off of 8notes.com a while ago.

@RockingLR33 Your version looks to be exactly the same way that I play it. Yes, the B part is tricky with the high B on the E string and the alternating between the E and A strings while running down the scale on the A string. I've really struggled with that part myself and still have a long way to go. You'll get there, though. Like anything else, it just takes practice, practice, practice.

VERY cool that you are learning that tune. It is on my list. I am not familiar with it so it is harder for me to learn. But 2015 will be the year to learn.

I am still trying to get my Swallowtail down.

Vibrato Desperato.... Desperately seeking vibrato

RockingLR33

Members

Regulars

December 25, 2014 - 2:26 am

Member Since: September 21, 2013

Forum Posts: 489

Offline

8

0

@coolpinkone Merry christmas to you as well! This just happened to be the very first one i ran crossed that looked like i could play it. I looked up swallow tail, and if i can ever master the second half of this song thats one of the next one i wanna learn

Lead me, Follow me, or get out of my way!

~General George S. Patton

risk

littleton, Colorado

Regular advisor

Members

Regulars

January 9, 2015 - 3:24 pm

Member Since: June 21, 2014

Forum Posts: 136

Offline

9

0

So I decided to learn this as well, for such a simple song I sure do honk alot with it. And for sone reason my intonation is waaay off at times, is there a trick? Im confused as to why I have any difficulty with this tune lol

RockingLR33

Members

Regulars

January 11, 2015 - 4:59 am

Member Since: September 21, 2013

Forum Posts: 489

Offline

10

0

@risk Sorry it took me so long to reply, my internets out at home so i'm using the wifi at a coffee shop to catch up here Anywho, yes for such a simple song it seems to cause alot of problems. lol.

I really had to slow the song down and literally play it bar by bar until i could constantly hit the correct notes, and then I sped up the song. I used a tuner to make sure i was hitting the notes correctly as i sped it up. Then when i'm confident i play it without the tuner. This really helped me tune my ears to the right note while speeding up the piece.

For me, switching to the second half of the song has been the hardest so i've been practicing that as much as i can and i'm slowing melding them together. But like i said i have to break it up into pieces and then slowly put it all together and speed it up.

I will hopefully post a video of the whole thing soon if i can get enough speed not to have to sit for hours! this song and several other easy fiddle tunes have really helped me relax in first position and i can really hear when i'm off now. Good luck on your fiddle journey! I hope this helped!

Lead me, Follow me, or get out of my way!

~General George S. Patton

Schaick

Members

Regulars

January 11, 2015 - 10:46 am

Member Since: December 25, 2013

Forum Posts: 878

Offline

11

0

Do you know about conserving motion while playing. I can't remember if there is an official term for it.

On the second part of the Irish Jig Melody posted by rockinglr33 keep our finger on G and D and just shift your bow. Happens a few measures later with F and D. It helps keep your position on the note and speeds up playing.

Violinist start date - May 2013

Fiddler start date - May 2014

FIDDLE- Gift from a dear friend. A 1930-40 german copy, of a french copy of a Stradivarius. BOW - $50 carbon fiber. Strings - Dominants with E Pirastro Gold string.

risk

littleton, Colorado

Regular advisor

Members

Regulars

January 11, 2015 - 12:20 pm

Member Since: June 21, 2014

Forum Posts: 136

Offline

12

0

It's funny, all of my issues are like mirrored to other peoples. I can vibrato better on g and d, and the second half of this song is easier lol.

RockingLR33

Members

Regulars

January 12, 2015 - 11:00 am

Member Since: September 21, 2013

Forum Posts: 489

Offline

13

0

thanks schaick! I understand what your getting at and thats one of the things i'm really working on is learning when its easier to do it tha way and when to move between strings. if that makes any sort of sense. lol. i must say these fiddle songs have really helped improve my abilities to play!